Script Writing is Teh Hard

It's been so many years since I wrote a feature length screenplay that I'd honestly forgotten how. So it was that Mother Dearest handed me a slip of paper she'd clipped from the Dallas Morning News that told of a Hollywood screenwriter holding an extended education class at Richland College on the art of screen writing. So I go and sign up for it figuring it can't hurt. At the very least, it would kick my mind back into the right place for scripting.

Here's a quickie synopsis of how I am. I live, sleep, eat, breathe and love movies above all other things in this world, My Fair Lady excluded. Quentin Tarantino may love just about every grindhouse-kung-fu--exploitation flick ever made, with a particular emphasis on Italian crime cinema, but for me it's everything across the board. Name the flick and I've either seen it or heard about it, unless you truly reach into the realm of the obscure. Cinema is my second language, and has been since I was shot in the head with a movie as a small child. Like so many would-be film makers of my generation, I was bit hard by the movie making bug courtesy of George Lucas and Star Wars, and since then I go out of my way to watch anything and everything I can get my hands on.

In short, I know my stuff when it comes to film and television. But I've been out of the screen writing process for so long that the precise format had been lost to the sands of time, and I felt it was time to reclaim it.

Hence, I joined the class and damn if I haven't loved it. Tomorrow night is the final class and I'm currently on page 45 of my screenplay. It should be about double that, but circumstances at both work and home have taken their toll on my availability to crank out 15 pages per week as mandated by the professor.

The plus side is he still holds an informal discussion for would-be writers on Friday nights, so it's not like I'm without future options. He also loves my writing style, and recognizes that I know my stuff on what should be cut and what should be added to scripts. It's fun talking cinema with him, especially since he believes all films since 1970 are crap. While I won't argue that there are more than a few duds out there, I was half-tempted to throw Marnie back in his face.

Bonus points if you've seen that one.

But good Lord I'd forgotten how much I truly loved writing. Don't let the infrequent updates fool you - this blog has frequently kept me sane. Very shortly in fact, I'll be devoting a lot more time to it and to my personal writings, but saying more now would not be advisable. I'm also planning on talking more about my DVD collection and movies in general to just keep the creative juices flowing as much as possible. Who knows what might happen?

I may even finish a full screenplay this year as a sort of early Christmas present to myself.